The Milwaukee Board of Election got caught rigging the game.

It’s about a recall petition that succeeded, was certified, then decertified without cause, then re-certified after outraged citizens complained.

Petitioners targeted Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee, whom they accuse of various misconduct. I can’t speak to the allegations. But it looks like the recall effort was duly conducted. The necessary signatures were gathered. The petition was certified. A recall election was set for February 20.

Didn’t happen. Instead, the Milwaukee Board of Election groundlessly rescinded their own certification. It was particularly galling to petitioners because even after the board had illegally struck signatures, enough signatures remained to certify.

And the state election board played along with this all this anti-democratic nonsense. As Citizens for Responsible Government, a local watchdog group, put it, the state board thus “abused its power, violated state statutes, and created a simple procedure by which any politician can disqualify a certified recall regardless of how closely the petitioners have followed the law or the number of signatures collected.”

Contemptible. But with pressure from Citizens for Responsible Government and the Recall McGee people, in the end the Milwaukee Board reversed its reversal and a new election was set for April 3. McGee survived the recall. But much more importantly, the right to recall survived.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Once the Christmas lights, ornaments and knickknacks were packed back in the basement and the college football bowl games over, I was struck by a very strange thought: our government tells us what we can and can’t eat.

Perhaps you’ve read about it: The New York City Council’s ban of food containing trans fats. And the bans that may follow in other towns, and for other foods. In fact, heaven forbid, for my favorite food, the kind that grows on the Liberty Tree. Maybe I was snacking more than I should have been during the holidays, especially when my teams were losing. (And I may sue the inventor of Hello Dolly’s). But my vice doesn’t make a virtue of the Big Apple’s totalitarianism. Even Orwell’s Big Brother permitted Winston Smith to smoke cigarettes and drink gin!

Sure, trans fat isn’t good for people. I get that. But the same goes for soda and cotton candy. And butter. The point is that in a free society, what one puts into one’s mouth is each person’s responsibility, each person’s right.

If government has the power to tell us what we can eat, what power does it lack?

On the other hand, rights schmights, why not just outlaw being fat? Those of us whose percentage of body fat goes above a certain threshold would be sent to camps where we could concentrate on losing weight.We could call these “concentration camps.”

This is Common Sense?!No. This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.